A key Taliban commander was killed in northern Afghanistan when militants attacked a Nato convoy as Afghan and foreign troops conducted an operation to clear an area of militants, officials said yesterday.

Mullah Nader was killed late Tuesday in the Darzab district of Jawzjan province during the two-hour clearing operation by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan soldiers, provincial police chief Mohamed Khalil Aminzada said. He said the commander was behind the killings of government officials in a nearby district four months ago. Ten officials of the Qoshtipa district were killed in an ambush by the Taliban.